Parental Guidance

Parental Guidance: The Impossible and Jurassic Park

We give you what you need to know about the family-friendliness of this week's new releases.

This week’s wide releases are both rated R, so we turn to the DVD shelves for a pair of new releases you might want to watch with the rest of your brood: the family disaster thriller The Impossible and the dino-crazed Jurassic Park. Read on to find out what’s appropriate for family viewing.

New On DVD:

What’s it about? Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star as parents on vacation in Thailand with their three children when a brutal tsunami hits and forces them to fight for their lives.

Who’s it for? It’s rated PG-13 for “intense realistic disaster sequences, including disturbing injury images and brief nudity.” In addition to its portrayal of a family in danger, it has a couple of brief images of graphic gore, so it’s probably not safe for kids below high school age.

Is it any good? Critics say The Impossible is a powerful, inspiring tale of survival, and it’s Certified Fresh to boot.

What’s it about? In Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, a millionaire invites a pair of scientists to a remote island, where has created an animal preserve for cloned dinosaurs. What could possibly go wrong?

Who’s it for? It’s rated PG-13 “for intense science fiction terror.” If you saw Jurassic Park in the theater when it first came out, you know that the MPAA isn’t lying, It’s safe for teens, but it’s sure to give younger kids nightmares.

Is it any good? Critics found Jurassic Park to be more spectacle than substance, but also were quick to note that it’s spectacle of a very high order.